There are a lot of different ways to describe different types or genres of literature. So many that I never really bothered to pay attention to them. Simply one more way for people to classify, pigeonhole, and thereby engender a license to be an elitist prick about something. I can only imagine that most people don’t have very kind descriptors for the kind of work that Stephen King writes, but regardless of his literary merits there is one undeniable tenant to his work: it’s fun to read. I’ve read a few other books by King over the last few years and have always found them entertaining. I even read his half advice/half memoir OnWriting and found it uniquely interesting (but that’s a conversation for another post). Most recently I was in the midst of prepping for a trip to Boston, MA and Portsmouth, NH so I swung by the library and picked up a copy of a distinctly New Englandish book, ‘Salem’s Lot.

Now for all you font/grammar weirdos out there, let me clarify right off the bat that the apostrophe at the front of ‘Salem’s Lot is not a typo. Right away in the book they identify that the setting is a town called Jerusalem’s Lot, conveniently shortened to ‘Salem’s Lot. King even provides a back story. To me the most interesting part was the brief insight that Jerusalem contains the word Salem. But whatever.

The main reason I’m convening a post on this book though is its subject matter. This is a story about vampires. Now you might already be clicking for the close window button but hear me out for just a second. Yes, vampires are played out, over saturated, or whatever you want to call it, but that’s exactly what makes ‘Salem’s Lot so satisfying. It was King’s 2nd novel and it was published in 1975. What this creates is a charming and refreshing take on the vampire menace. There’s nothing sexy going on here, just old school unspeakable horror in the night style vampires who want nothing more to consume. As an added bonus the setting naturally precludes all modern amenities (cell phones, internet research, etc,). And lastly, this is from when King was still fresh to writing, when he was writing more for himself than for any audience.

I am recommending ‘Salem’s Lot as fodder for your next thesis paper? No. But am I recommending it as a incredibly fun and compelling read? Absolutely. So get to it.

Have you read ‘Salem’s Lot? Any thoughts or concerns? Leave’em in the comments.